Woolworm is Icarus. The Vancouver quartet soar so close to the boundaries of Brit-Pop tinged shoegaze and hardcore infected power pop they almost get burned.

Awe, the band’s third LP, is a terrifying balancing act between hopeful and heavy, cool and kitsch, merry and morose. The result is a delicate tension of sensible vox anchored to the ground by earth angering rhythm. It’s a palpable tension as they fly neither too high nor too low.

Nowhere on the album is this tension more prevalent than on “Hold the Bow,” the album’s first single. Inspired by Marina Abramović’s performance art piece, Rest Energy, where Abramović’s partner holds a bow with an arrow pointing at her heart for four whole minutes. It’s a perfect visual metaphor for the songs message of total trust and unconditional love.

It’s clear Woolworm has carved out a unique space for themselves, one that simultaneously lands them gigs with Orville Peck and hardcore legends, Integrity. Perhaps that’s why Awe seems to find the band more open-minded and impulsive, more varied and less symmetrical, and even more playful. Maybe it’s that same restless hubris that led Icarus too close to the sun.

Best Track: Hold the Bow

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